Posted on 05/16/2014 12:31:49 PM PDT by greeneyes
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks.
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This AM we had frost on the roof tops, had to cover tomatoes last night, and bring in a bunch of my seedlings. This is unprecidented in my memory. I have never before experienced frost after Mother's Day, but it does demonstrate why I figure on June 1 as the "real planting date".
Thanks to Rightly for posting the thread last weekend. The drive to Kirksville was great - such pretty country and farmland. We got to see our daughter for the first time since she moved to Kansas. So proud to see our Granddaughter graduate from Truman State. She worked so hard and got full scholarships so that she doesn't have any college debt, and has a job starting in two weeks.
I was asked for a pickle recipe, and I'll post that after the ping on this thread. Hope that all of you are doing well, and your gardens are lush and productive. Have a great weekend. God Bless.
Pinging the List.
Our mini heat wave gave the tomatoes the jolt they needed.. The fruit trees aren’t as full of baby fruit as desired, we had bees so, hopefully the squirrels and birds will go easy and eat more peanuts from a local feeder.
Been kind of a crap week, really cold and wet, almost cold enough to snow.
Had a funnel cloud pass by a couple of miles south last weekend. Plants were outside and sustained over 10 minutes of pea/marble sized hail and torrential downpour. Tore things up pretty good.
Got German tomatoes growing wild, just got my order of hops seeds so I can start my “beer garden” and will be innoculating a few logs with shiitake plugs this weekend! Gotta love spring!
Tomato leafs so green they're almost blue. Limes and Oranges already the size of your thumb.
Picked my first cherries last night.
My garden is very boring compared to yours.
It’s 65 degrees here in Massachusetts today, but the recent warm temperatures have moved us much further into typical spring weather, and our trees and bushes are very close to being in full leaf. Our seedlings are doing better, and my husband harvested some lettuce for dinner tonight.
Been trying a lot of new things. I really do want to get a lot more sufficient when it comes to the stuff I grow/make. Kinda tired of giving my hard earned money to other people, for stuff I can do on my own!
SWEET AND SPICY PICKLED ZUKES - makes 4 pints
2 lbs zucchini
1 med. onion
2 heaping Tbls coarse salt
2 cups ice cubes
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
2 cups sugar
1 tsp whole mustard seed
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
3/4 tsp whole black peppercorns
1/4 tsp red pepper
Slice the onions and zukes, and toss with the salt and ice cubes. Refrigerate for 3 hours. Drain, Rinse, and drain again.
Combine the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Put the zukes and onion in jars and follow directions for raw pack pickle canning in your Ball Blue Book, water bath canner book, or pressure cooker book, ladling in the hot mixture and leaving the appropriate head room.
Processing time is 10 minutes.
I added dill, garlic, and pickle crisp to this recipe. About 3/4 Tablespoon of dill to the mixture, 1/8 tsp pickle crisp per pint and 1 clove of garlic to each pint.
I cut the zukes in spears about 3 inches long, and 1/4 inch wide, using a chef's knife. I also cut off the centers so that most of the seeds were cut off.
When I fill the jars with hot liquid, I put a metal spoon or knife into the jar to help absorb the shock of the boiling liquid and prevent breakage - something my Granny taught me.
If I ever find my notes, I'll let you know if there are any additional ingredients I might have used.
Crazy weather we’ve had in Central Missouri this spring.
No frost at my place last night, but there’s another chance of it tonight.
Still pumping out the pond from all of the rain we got earlier in the week. I noticed this morning that it was just about empty so it ought to be done by the time I get home today. Need a couple days of sunshine and wind before I’ll be able to get back in there with Nanner.
Haven’t done any work in the garden since last Saturday, but it’s growing like crazy. Lettuce is now big enough to pick on, snap peas are about a foot high, kentucky wonder beans are sprouting, sweet corn has started to spike, and the best part - next to no weeds coming up. What few do make it through that thick layer of horse poo I just cut with a shovel and they’re done!
I still have quite a bit of free space out there but I haven’t decided what all I want to plant. Cilantro for sure, some dill, and maybe some odd varieties of salad greens, but that still will leave free space. What to do, what to do...
Afternoon all. So my yellow squash is doin what ist is supposed to be doing. I am getting very nice blossoms on all of my plants. So nice that I want to pick them and stuff them like a stuffed pepper.
Being that last season I had the blossoms, but instead of producing anything they fell off the plant and died. Wth good blossoms, how long does it normally take before I start seeing a veggie?
I am in the San Antonio area.
I am ready for a small heat wave too.LOL
I am so glad that the Funnel cloud passed you by. Now that would have really torn up the garden even more so not to mention other stuff.
I do love spring, problem is it keeps regressing, and soon it will be summer. Cold wet springs are not helpful to the gardening efforts, but it beats no rain and dry hot conditions, so I am thankful that the rain barrels are full.
That sounds great. You are blessed with a good climate.
I have some lettuce started in pots to grow, so that I can bring them in if needed.
This weekend, I plan to plant some more lettuce in the outdoor garden no matter what.
Hey greeneyes & all! Enjoy it while it lasts! We got a cool front this week (bonus heavy rains) & it’s sure been nice. It was HOT before that.
We had Mia, our little Eskie girl up at A&M last week (mixed bag- good news & scary news that’s still ongoing- no answers yet. Scary because she has been seen by the best), so some of my stuff (squash, cowpeas, & corn) is going to be late. Everything else is up & running (turnips, beets, carrots, okra + herbs). We’re getting strawberries one by one from the little hanging basket, but they are sweet & delicious!
There is something weird on the leaves of my Valley Cat tomatoes. It looks like the image (lighter than the leaf itself) of a long thin worm that’s kind of curling around. I need to figure out how to post pictures. I don’t know what this is.
But they’re blooming, so hoping for tomatoes.
Adding my wishes for everyone’s health & prosperity. And God Bless you, too.
sockmonkey, I think I found you some trees. The place doesn’t have a sign that I can tell (maybe attached to a little restaurant next door?), but it’s on the way to my vet in Somerset, so I’ll be back over there & soon. It’s on 1604 between I35 South & Old Pearsall Road. I’ll holler.
My corn is not co operating. Refusing to sprout. May have to order some different seeds. Hubby’s corn and beans are doing well as so are the potatoes.
We have green strawberries and some of the honey berries are almost ripe. We are anxious to see how they taste when ripe.
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